Rep. Tom McClintock
California

What climate change means for California

A dry winter in 2011-12 meant that the snow pack, which provides critical drinking water and water to irrigate farmland, was the third lowest on record in the West.

￼In California, there were more than 32,700 hospital admissions for asthma in 2011, with an average ￼charge of more than $35,800 for each stay.

In 2009, there were 4,073 emergency room visits in California due to heat stress.

Changing temperature and precipitation patterns can affect the life cycle and distribution of ￼insects, many of which transmit diseases that already pose problems to public health in California.

Temperatures in the Southwest are increasing more quickly than in other regions of the United States as a result of climate change. These increases can have important impacts on human health, particularly in cities, where 90 percent of the region’s population lives. Decreases in air quality during heat waves, for example, can worsen the effects of respiratory illnesses and heart disease; high temperatures also increase the risk of heat stress. Even small increases in temperature can dry soils and vegetation, increasing the risk of wildfires. In 2012, wildfires burned 9.2 million acres across eight states, reducing air quality, damaging property and costing more than $1 billion. Water resources, already over-tapped in many areas, will become even scarcer as a result of increased evaporation and snowmelt caused by higher temperatures, affecting agriculture, hydroelectric power plants, and water availability in growing cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. This will also reduce groundwater recharge, which, combined with heavy groundwater pumping, will lower water tables and limit water availability and make it harder to support the Southwest region’s cities and agricultural production. Although water scarcity will increase, the Southwest will also see increased frequency and altered timing of flooding because of increased intensity of rainfalls when they do occur, leading to increased risks to people, natural resources, and infrastructure.